


A Night Sky is Nothing Special

by raindrop_rouge



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Campfires, Camping, Eren is a constellation expert, Levi is not, M/M, Pining Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Sharing A Tent, Summer Vacation, high schoolers, star-gazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-12 15:39:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7112050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raindrop_rouge/pseuds/raindrop_rouge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where Eren is a star enthusiast and attempts to teach an improvised constellations 101 class, but his only student’s eyes are drawn to another beauty entirely.<br/> At least Eren has got Levi's attention, and is sure to keep it. They're about to share a tent, after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Night Sky is Nothing Special

   Most of their group had gone to bed by the time Levi stretched, deciding he’d better follow suit. He eyed the campfire they had managed to start in the field behind Oluo’s family’s vacation home. It was dying down slowly, just as the conversation had moments before. It was in the middle of the summer, and the sun had set a long time ago. A cool breeze swept by and Levi shivered.

Besides him, only Sasha, Connie and Eren remained outside. Mikasa could have still been there too, but Armin had fallen asleep against her shoulder and Eren had convinced her to carry him back inside. Sasha and Connie were still relatively lively, excitedly trying to make good use of what remained of the fire to roast the last marshmallows. How they could even still eat at this hour- _after all they already had_ \- was beyond Levi. He decided they’d be responsible for throwing out all the empty food packages. Or at least he would have, had he the authority to actually make them do anything.

Eren was leaning back on the ground they were all sat on, gazing up towards the night sky. A content smile graced his sun-kissed features, animated by the flickering glow of the fire. He must have been lost in some daydream, which Levi had no doubt would turn into a plain dream if he didn’t move soon. He went to shake the younger boy out of his trance.

For Gunther, Erd, Petra, Oluo and Levi himself, this was the last summer spent as high-schoolers. Petra had mentioned it off-handedly towards the end of spring. Imagining a hint of melancholy in her voice –that she would have hidden perfectly well had she had any such feelings - Oluo had been quick to organize a vacation for all of them. His parents usually only came down to their secondary residence later in the season, and they were happy to lend it to their son and his friends on the condition that they clean it up for their arrival. The others had agreed that being able to hang out far from the city for a week sounded like an ideal break.

Levi could not understand why, but the others had seemed to believe he’d need some extra convincing. Oluo had immediately started to describe how well-kept the home was, how they covered everything in sheets while his family was gone, so that dust would not pile up on top of the beds and other furniture, and how the house _was_ in the countryside but they were very good at keeping bugs out. Petra had calmly waited for him to cut himself off by biting his tongue before attempting to persuade him her own way.

And that was why a bunch of kids from the year below them had ended up coming along. 

Claiming she cared for all of “ _her boys_ ” deeply, Petra kept a close eye on all of them year in year out (“Y _ou just love gossip too much, Petra_ ,” Levi had rolled his eyes, albeit fondly). She claimed it had not escaped her news radar how Levi had gone from darting to and from his locker at the beginning of the year, to taking his time there to chat with the junior who used the one above his, to finally spending less time with her out of class than with his new friend. After nagging him for weeks ( _“It wasn’t nagging, Levi, it’s standard practice, as your best friends”_ ), she’d managed to organize an evening gathering Levi’s long-term friends and Eren’s. Levi had wanted to die but they’d all gotten along very well (though Oluo was definitely overestimating how much he’d impressed the juniors).

After that, they all kept running into each other at the same parties and Eren’s friends had started inviting them to join their cheery bunch in their leisure time too. And so of course it would have seemed perfectly natural to invite them along for their estival excursion. So had Petra told Levi, visibly pleased with dangling the possibility of a holiday with Eren in front of him. Truth be told, Oluo’s invitation had probably extended to the whole group right from the start. Everyone would have been in for it. Which made Levi hate Petra all the more for making it sound like this was doing him a special favor. Like he’d be especially happy to have this loud crowd fill his days with their quirks and banter. Like it was basic knowledge and very obvious that he-

“AAHH!” a loud high-pitched scream came from right in front of him, snapping him back to the cool summer night and the dried up field.

“Ah! Sasha watch out what are you _doing?_ ” Connie shouted, leaping up.

“ _Ow,_ ouchies owies that hurt!” Sasha was back up on her feet, bouncing around while she shook one hand around, the other still clutching her marshmallow stick.

“I told you to be careful, I knew you were getting tired you silly goose,” Connie chided her, clearly worried. “Come on let me see your hand,” he said, holding his own hand out.

At first Levi had doubted the reality of what he’d basically just watched happen, but no, nothing was beyond these two. Sasha had been crouched down, leaning towards the fire, roasting her last marshmallow, when she had suddenly- and completely unexpectedly, to be honest- fallen asleep. Gravity sparing no one, she had tipped forward, and by a barely-conscious reflex she had slammed her hand down to catch herself. Right onto some hot twigs sticking out of the fire.

“You’re lucky you didn’t face-plant into the logs,” Connie sighed. “You’re still gonna need first aid though. Guess we need to head back in, come on.”

“But Connie no wait, you haven’t finished your marshmallows!” Sasha somehow managed to sound both in pain and judgmental. “And no offense man, but I can probably patch myself up without your help, you can stay here if you want.”

“I know,” Connie frowned. “I still wanna help though. Let’s go, we need to check your burns out under a light. And then bed time-  oh man. I forgot.” He turned awkwardly to Eren and Levi.

“Guys… Sorry Levi I know this isn’t cool but… Would you mind if we took the last beds for tonight? It’d be easier for us to just go to bed inside once we’re already there. We’ll take the tent starting tomorrow, promise!”

Levi froze. No. No no no no. N-o spells-

“Yeah of course man, no worries. Go sort your hand out Sasha. We’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Eren answered for them both, voice perfectly even. How was that even possible? Did he not mind swapping a nice and comfy bed for a poor excuse of a mattress between him and the ground? And the familiar company of Armin and Mikasa for… Levi?

“Thanks guys, we’ll make it up to you, take a dishes turn or something. G’night!” The bubbly duo waved as they walked back towards the house, disappearing into the dark. Sounds of their fight for the remaining marshmallows faded into the distance, leaving Levi in a silence only disturbed by his own heartbeat. Or at least so it seemed to him.

Oluo’s parents owned a lovely, rustic home in the countryside, which was of a good size, like most secondary homes in the area. The problem was, their group of friends was of an even better size. Petra and Oluo had thought the odds were that at least two people wouldn’t have been able to make it. Turned out not one of those kids knew how to plan their summers properly and so all were free and keen to join in. Petra had suggested spreading blankets on the living room floor, but Sasha and Connie’s eyes had widened with glee at the idea of sleeping in a tent outside instead. And so they had piled up a giant tent, sleeping pads and sleeping bags in their car and set it all up as soon as they arrived, in the middle of the unused field.

“Look guys, it even has this part in the roof you can unzip, so we’ll be able to see through this net here and stargaze!” they’d both exclaimed once they were done, grinning from ear to ear. Levi had thought they were insane for looking forward to sleeping in that soon-to-be bugs’ nest, but at least it opened up two spots indoors, and that was all that mattered. Others had decided to drag their mattresses into the hallway to make the stay some giant sleepover, but Levi had been quite pleased to unpack in his own space.

Own space he would apparently not be sleeping in tonight.

He realized he’d been frozen still, petrified, staring in the direction Sasha and Connie had disappeared to. Slowly, he turned around to look at Eren. The taller boy was searching around for something in his messenger bag. As if he sensed Levi’s gaze on him, he glanced up.

“Oh… hey… I hope you don’t mind too much? The whole tent deal, I mean. I didn’t see how badly Sasha got burned, but I thought it’d be better for her to stay near running water just in case. Plus, uh… I remember you mentioning you have trouble sleeping, so, well, I thought maybe I could stay up with you tonight? I had an idea…” Eren trailed off, diving back into his bag.

Levi wanted to be annoyed. Truly he did. For a summer night, it was chilly out, he had been ready to go back indoors. He’d never slept inside a tent before, nor had he ever wanted to. Especially one that had possibly been out in the dirt countless times before.

But Eren’s smile was disarming. He had looked at Levi almost ruefully, as if he was worried he’d really made the wrong choice in accepting to take the tent. As if doing what was best for his injured friend, but also remembering Levi’s insomnia, were things to be apologetic about. Levi fought the affection he could feel overtaking his expression. It was a losing battle, his thoughts were already gravitating around how wonderfully caring Eren always was. It would never seem like he was the most observant in his group of friends, loud and obnoxious as he sometimes could be ( _why did he and Jean have to be friends_?). And yet, he was always the first to speak up for Armin when the boy would get too nervous, but also the first to make sure he’d be heard out when he wanted to be. When he sent Mikasa in back with Armin earlier, he’d probably predicted she wanted to go to bed at that time too. And now, could it be that he was extending that hyper-awareness of his best friends’ well-being to him too?  

Was there any chance Eren watched him, the same way he kept an eye, or both _– definitely both_ \- on Eren?

He was struggling to believe Eren truly was perfectly fine with the idea of spending the night outside, with nothing but him, the starry sky and a tent of questionable hygiene. But the idea certainly was… something. Something good. Yes, something good, if the butterflies in his stomach were anything to go by.

Dammit. No. Stop. If there was one thing Levi could not afford, it was getting his hopes up about this boy. He was so weak, it was too easy for him to be tricked into giddiness before Eren’s kindness towards him, which could only lead to even more pain later, inevitably.

“Ah hah! Got it,” Eren exclaimed, blissfully unaware of Levi’s internal struggles. He was brandishing what looked like a laminated sheet of paper no bigger than a standard envelope. “Oh wait, let’s take care of this first,” Eren muttered to himself, as he started to kick dirt over the fire.

There went Levi’s last source of heat. But instead of protesting, Levi found himself helping the boy extinguish the flames that had valiantly lasted until now. It was chilly, this made no sense, he really shouldn’t trust Eren to have a better plan than just sitting around, but he did. It was pathetic really. Levi liked order, liked logic, he really should be demanding an explanation right this instant.  

Eren spoke up at that moment, as if he had anticipated Levi’s rising frustration. “I brought a constellation chart,” he spoke soothingly. “I’m gonna make sure you leave this place having learned to say more about this clear summer sky than ‘it’s pretty’,” he smirked.

Levi wanted to protest, for the sole reason of this being far too- dare he think it- _romantic_. Star gazing sounded like the kind of thing couples would do. Star gazing would make him imagine what it would like being in a- he inhaled shakily- _relationship_ , with Eren. But he simply watched, like a bystander to his own life, as his hand independently reached out to grab the chart.

Eren grinned, all perfect teeth and irresistible dimples, sending a “Follow me!” Levi’s way as he marched towards the tent in the middle of the field.

Levi frowned. He’d never gotten the whole starry sky hype. He was a city boy, which came with the privilege of understanding what pollution was merely by glancing up. Before he ever got the chance to contemplate man’s place in the universe by staring literally into space, as so many seemed inclined to do, he had grown into a cynical man. Well. To a certain extent. Extent which did not seem to cover things involving Eren.

Damn it all. If Eren really was pleased with the idea of pointing out weird space things to him, Levi was not going to stop it from happening. He exhaled slowly in a vain attempt to calm his pounding heart, and set off after the brunet.

Eren was stood a few feet from the tent, expression serene as he smiled up to the night sky. At least the stars shone bright enough Levi didn’t trip on his way to the other boy.

“My mom taught me all about constellations when I was younger. I’d get really excited because it meant I’d get to stay up late. Now I guess… looking at them… well, they bring back nice memories, you know?” Eren spoke a lot softer than he usually did. Levi had no clue what to say to that. Fortunately, Eren carried on.

“So, now I’m glad I get to share a bit of what I remember with someone else. I think you’ll like it,” Eren added hopefully. Did he really have to be that endearing?

Levi looked up, and for the first time in his life, he tried to appreciate the cool glow of the twinkling sky draped over the landscape. He tried to notice the different patterns of light above them, the various intensities of radiance among the stars. He remembered hearing that he should be able to distinguish planets from the stars, and that satellites, shooting stars and other things he’d never seen before might be up there too.

But he did not feel anything special. To his untrained eye, it was just a dark curtain with identical splotches of light irregularly splattered across it. He didn’t know if he should feel disappointed, or relieved that he hadn’t been missing out on anything anyway. He sneaked a quick glance in Eren’s direction. The brunet was fidgeting, his excitement muted by nervousness. Oh. Levi had been too quiet for too long again.

“It’s a night sky. Seen from the city or from out here, what difference does it make?” Levi stated.

No. His point wasn’t that he didn’t want to look. Eren’s brows were furrowing and his lips had parted to reply, but Levi decided to express what he meant better first. “You’re the one who decided to keep our asses out here so go on, tell me. What should I be looking at?”

There was a moment of silence. Eren was taking his sweet time formulating a response. Levi held back a groan. Weren’t they just amazing at communicating.

Luckily, Eren seemed to sense Levi’s increasing internal nervousness, and reached out for his hand still holding the constellation chart. Levi instantly felt his cheeks warm up. “I’ll teach you what difference it makes. There are things you can see from here you never could from back home. Look here,” Eren explained, having raised the chart into view and using his phone to shine light upon it. “See, this wavy line going across the middle represents the horizon-“

“No shit Sherlock,” Levi grumbled.

“It’ll just make things easier to point out if we start from here! Just deal with the basics ok?” Eren insisted.

Huh. Knowing Eren’s temper, he was probably making an effort to stay calm in the face of Levi’s apparent crankiness. Levi really had to try and not be an asshole. One night. It couldn’t be that hard.

“So…” Eren glanced up briefly, before swiveling around to face where they’d all been sat around the fire not too long ago. “That’s your horizon line,” he said, indicating where the sky met the silhouettes of trees and houses. “And we’ll only be using the top half of the chart since we’re in the northern hemisphere.” Levi barely swallowed back a cynical “how the fuck did you figure that out?”, determined to let Eren continue.

“Alright so first up, the most obvious, and one of the best parts of the view here. You’ve probably already noticed this, but we can see the Milky Way stretching from there”, he pointed with a finger, “to there,” he illustrated, dragging his finger over their head towards the opposite direction.

“Oh. I thought those were some weird-ass clouds,” Levi mumbled. The shame was worth the way Eren burst out laughing, bright and musical. “Like, maybe due to some weird pressure in this valley, they gathered and lined up all funny?”

“Levi, that doesn’t even make any sense,” Eren giggled, wiping at his eyes. “Though actually, technically speaking, clouds _are_ a part of what makes our galaxy. What you’re looking at is a spiral of space dust, conglomerations of stars and other space objects… and somewhere in that mix there are clouds too” Eren elaborated. “It’s all a lot farther than the types of clouds you were thinking of though.”

“Yeah I’ve gathered that much, thanks,” Levi bit back. The tips of his ears must have been red, good thing Eren wouldn’t be able to see them. Ten points to the nocturnal aspect of their current activity.

“Okay well since now you’ll definitely remember our good old Milky Way… Any constellations you already know?” Eren inquired. This could have started to feel like some field trip bullshit, with questions to answer by the end, but this was Eren teaching him. Eren, whose company Levi would trade for no other, and whose excitement was contagious. And who was still waiting for an answer, and _dammit why did Levi always have to space out around him?_

“I uh… Aren’t we all taught to find the big dipper, as kids?” Levi tried, hesitantly.

“Yeah, but can you?” Eren asked.

Levi tried, but distinguishing stars was an impossible feat for him. Eren came to his rescue.

“Look, it’s one of the easier ones to spot because all of the stars that are a part of it are pretty bright. Also, the North Star is always aligned with the two stars of the dipper’s edge. See? Down there,” Eren pointed into the distance.

Levi suddenly realized that Eren had edged closer and closer to him while speaking. As he pointed out the stars forming the constellation, the brunet placed his right hand on Levi’s left shoulder, and lowered his face to his level. No doubt the sole aim of this was to point out the stars as Levi would see them from his point of view, but Levi could hardly focus anymore. He repressed a shudder, and resisted the urge to turn his gaze towards Eren’s face. The boy was radiating warmth where the cool air of the night clung to Levi’s skin. He couldn’t move, too scared of bringing an early end to the moment.

For the better or for the worst, Eren did not move from this position as he casually moved on to another constellation. “Another one that’s always pretty easy to see from here, and often from home too, is Cassiopeia,” he explained, swiveling them both around to face another direction. “That was the first one I learned to find. Mom wanted to show it to Mikasa, Armin and I. Turns out Armin knew most constellations already and Kasa really struggles telling stars apart.” Ah, well just another thing Levi and the girl with ink-black hair had in common.

Eren carried on. “It was the first thing I ever got faster than Kasa, I was so pleased with myself,” Eren chuckled, his breath barely brushing against Levi’s cheek. Levi raised an eyebrow. Overall, Eren never acted like he had an inferiority complex towards his adopted sister, but small comments like these always left Levi wondering. He wanted to tell Eren there was nothing in anyone else worth envying. That he was an exceptional human being, filled with empathy, an inspiring curiosity towards the world, determination to fulfill his desire to learn and share his knowledge like no one else was, and so much more. That Levi had never wanted to be close to anyone the way he’d wanted to get to know Eren. But for now all he could do was distract him from any negative line of thought.

“You still haven’t shown me where it is, some teacher you’d make,” he complained.

Eren squeaked in embarrassment and pointed to the bright stars lined up in a “W” shape shimmering further to the west. After that, he selected a few others he believed Levi would be able to remember from the silly imagery his brain would provide. Hercules, according to the chart, really looked like a man about to swing a club fit for a Greek hero. Unfortunately, some of its stars weren’t visible that night, and so all Levi could see was a square with legs (“It looks like it’s dancing ballet or something” “You’re looking the wrong way tilt you head to the right!”). Eren also really loved Boötes because it looked just like a giant ice cream cone to him, and Levi had to agree. Between the two shone corona borealis, like a necklace, a string of stars.

Levi looked to Eren then, knowing that such a delicate and pale ornament would look heavenly against the darker skin of the boy’s neck. But his eyes met Eren’s, brighter than any star above.

“What are you staring at, you should be looking up too, idiot,” Levi snapped, flustered.

Eren returned his gaze to the skies then, but Levi found he himself no longer could. He had always been weak to Eren’s eyes, to the intensity blazing behind them. But if he had been mesmerized by their sparkling shine under the sunlight, their gleam under a summer’s night sky positively stole his breath away.

“If you look straight up, right above us, you should be able to identify the three stars of the Summer Triangle. They’re all part of different constellations,” Eren explained next.

“Why were these ones chosen to be part of the summer triangle?” Levi demanded, still not tearing his eyes away from Eren’s features. “There are so many bright stars up there.”

“I have no clue. You know, I do love the stars and everything my mom taught me about them but… To be honest, I prefer the moon.”

“The moon?” Levi snorted.

“Yep,” Eren answered simply, the shadow of a smile skirting over his lips. “I love the moon a lot,” he trailed off, lost in thought for a moment. “Though I don’t mind it being a new moon tonight, there are some constellations you can’t see when the moon is up,” he concluded finally, peering back at Levi.

“My neck is starting to hurt from all this looking up,” Levi blurted, in case Eren had noticed his eyes had never left the boy’s face in the past few moments.

“Oh. Should we sit down?” Eren suggested. If he had noticed, he didn’t seem to mind.

“It’s cold,” Levi sulked. This ‘not-being-an-asshole-for-one-night’ thing wasn’t going great.

“Hey, you know, we’re supposed to be able to look out from inside the tent. We can get into the sleeping bags and I’ll tell you about whatever will still be visible,” Eren beamed, proud he’d found a way to conciliate his plans for the evening and Levi’s preferences. Of course Eren would be excited about the see-through roof.

Levi wasn’t unhappy to finally slide into a sleeping bag. It was still a bit chilly however, and Levi wondered if they should try sneaking back into Oluo’s house anyway. He was hyperaware of Eren lying down next to him, scooting up close so they could get the same view from the small opening above them. He probably would have gotten more rest with the others snoring in the next room.

“Oh perfect, we can still see the Summer Triangle,” Eren picked up where they’d left off in his constellation teachings. “So you see, that super big one there is Vega, and it’s part of Lyra…”

Levi shivered. Eren shot him a glance. “Are you still cold?”

Levi did not want to snap back, after all, what could Eren possibly do about it? “It’s fine,” he grumbled instead, wiggling deeper into the sleeping bag and pulling it closely around him. He could feel the weight of Eren’s gaze on him, chewing his lip. “What?” Levi had to ask.

“I never get cold,” Eren began hesitantly. “I uh… I think I overheat a lot. See?” Eren only had his legs in his sleeping bag, and he moved to hold one of his arms over the older boy.

Levi reached up to shove the boy away, but before he could carry through with that plan, his eyes widened as the heat exuding from the offending arm warmed up his own. “Well fuck guess you really are a furnace,” he muttered, unsure of whether he really wanted Eren away from him now. Not that he ever really did, if he was completely honest (which he’d rather not be).

But Eren solved his dilemma for him by tucking Levi’s pale arm back into the sleeping bag with a laugh, and letting his own arm flop down on top, so that Eren was laying on his side facing Levi, enclosing him in his warmth.

The darker haired boy’s heart leapt into his throat. He needed to react somehow, to say something, what, he didn’t know, and his vocal cords had given up on him anyway. He probably wasn’t even feeling the extra heat provided through the sleeping bag, the sudden warmth that overcame him was most likely provided by his own pounding heart.

Next to him, Eren carried on speaking gently, as if he were attempting to lull Levi to sleep with the flow of his words.  Names of stars and constellations succeeded each other rhythmically, and Levi thought maybe, just maybe, he could begin to see the hype around sleeping under the stars.

Soon enough, too soon even, Eren quieted down. Levi didn’t dare move. He feared if he looked at Eren’s dormant expression, he would stand even less of a chance than he currently did at being ok, once Eren found out about his feelings for him and pushed him away. So he kept his eyes on the stars above, whose names he’d know had he been able to pay attention, from under the comforting weight of Eren’s arm.

Well, he had to hand it to the kid. Though he wouldn’t be capable of finding most of the constellations on his own, the brightest stars he could probably remember. He sighed. The stars were like people. As a child, they were all the same to him. But now, he found he could learn to appreciate the brighter ones. Like Eren. Yes, Eren was definitely like a star, shining in laughter, surrounded by so many others. Though to Levi, Eren was the most stunning of them all.

Levi was no star. He’d always stood in chosen solitude. Like the sad loner he was.

A huff of to his side made him jump. He twisted around to face Eren, to find the boy chuckling softly at him. Levi could feel his whole face heat up. He’d definitely spoken bits of his thoughts aloud, relaxing as he believed Eren had fallen asleep.

Before he could beat himself up for not checking on Eren’s state, the brunet gently raised his hand, to rest it behind Levi’s head.

“I wouldn’t say a loner, no,” Eren murmured, pulling him in closer. “Maybe just a bit different, yes. To me, you do stand apart,” he breathed.  “Like… the moon from the stars,” he concluded, with more warmth emanating from his eyes than from the rest of his body. Levi felt a grin spread on his face.

Eren had already told him how he loved the moon, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading n_n <3
> 
> Follow me @raindrop-rouge on tumblr~


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